


Of Flames and Smoke

by orphan_account



Series: Of Flames and Smoke [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Multi, fem!Kuroko - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-04 02:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2905355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh, the irony of the situation. See, in fairy tales, the dragon is meant to be slain, and the princess, along with her knight, are meant to have their happily ever after. But meeting those golden eyes that burned like fire, as strongly and familiarly as her own, it seemed the story didn't quite go as planned.</p><p>Good. She didn't want the cliché happily ever after anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Flames and Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> I did not mean for this to take 14,000 words to write. Oh well lol

Her mother always had a love for fairy tales. Well-known stories of the prince slaying the dragon to save his princess, or of the child beggar who was in actuality the lost prince of prophecy were among a few of her favorites, if Kuroko remembered correctly.

The two would always read those tales in the security of the gardens, under the shade of the single willow tree their ancestors had planted at the birth of their once small kingdom, with only the buzzing of insects and the croak of frogs making home in the center lake as company. Any guards accompanying Her Majesty in the halls or the Royal Court were forced to stand guard on the furthest outskirts of the sanctuary, to provide the most privacy.

It was always just the two of them, never her father who was always attending to the court and warfare, nor her older brother by four years, Prince Akashi, who had begun taking up lessons with the royal professors.

Her mother, or should she say, her late mother, passed away not a year before she was taken.

Kuroko was taken when she was 7, they said, years past all the babying she still had to endure, especially losing her mother, and far behind the age of someone who could make her own decisions and be independent.

Perhaps that's why they never believed her tales. She was someone who'd been presumed dead for 10 years, and upon returning home, a girl they hardly knew anymore.

Her "petty tale" was of little importance.

But why would they believe it in the first place, when what it was that had taken her, was a dragon.

\-----

All she remembers, in her last moments in the kingdom before she was whisked away for a decade, was red.

There was fire. The roses her mother always loved were turned a charcoal black, and the willow tree they always sat under was burning a vibrant red. The glow of distant flames on the horizon meant the town hadn't gone unscathed either.

Kuroko couldn't remember if there were even any guards with her at the time, being a young girl who had lately been sneaking out from her quarters and past the guards. Guards that had once been her mother's.

She remembers the fire spreading, licking at her heels as she stumbled on short legs to the center of the garden where the lake sat. She remembers seeing the tops of the towers of the main castle crumbling as they came into view, and being in the gardens of the outer ward, all the other guards who didn't frequent this garden would be heading in the wrong direction, to the royal gardens in the inner ward to look for her. Perhaps her brother knew where she was.

Then there was a shadow looming over her and came with it was a spray of water, soaking her in her lilac dress and much of the surrounding area.

There were warm breaths of air washing over her, making her skin tingle at the prickly heat. A scaly tail dripping with water came into view, swiping out any nearby flickering flames before folding around her.

She turned around, away from the falling kingdom, having to tilt her head far to look up at the vast creature, trailing up ruby scales and pairs of clawed wings, to meet red serpent eyes.

Large reptilian eyes stared into her baby blue ones, snapping up when the clinking of metal against stone and the voices of angry males reached their ears. It leaned its head down to the surface of the water it was standing in, head cocked to the side as if it was nodding for her to get on. She did so without thought.

Anything else after that point in her memory was filled with chilly air and scorching fire before she succumbed to sleep against warm scales.

\-----

Kuroko always heard dragons to be terrifying beings, burning down kingdoms and stealing princesses. The knights and city guards would always tell tales of how they could breath fire and fly, and how they were so rare that a single scale off their hides could feed a family for years. Dragons sounded a lot more like pots of golds at the end of the rainbow to them.

Her mother would never show her pictures, saying she could see them when she was older.

Because of that, she always assumed they were like those scary goblins that would steal little babies from their cradles and hoard gold like in the pictures she remembered her brother's friend Aomine showing her. He was scolded after being caught showing her pictures of a basilisk once, with its long fangs and rumored myths of being able to turn people to stone.

But waking up curled up against scales looking sharp enough to pierce skin that were instead smooth and velvety under her trailing fingertips, and course skin warm to the touch, like a heated blanket, the dragon certainly didn't _feel_ like a scary monster.

Quietly rolling onto her feet, she peeked over the large arm that was keeping her shielded from the cold, looking at the face of the sleeping dragon.

Before she could do anything, one eye opened to look at her, and she quickly ducked out of sight in surprise. A sound similar to the huff of a laugh was made by the dragon, and she felt it shift to curl up closer around her.

Maybe he wasn't _that_ scary.

\-----

Kuroko could only guess that _it_ was a _he_ from what tales she could recall from her mother. "I have never heard of any female dragons before, Tetsumi," the Queen had said when she brought up the topic. So she always assumed he was a male dragon.

\-----

His name was Kagami.

The scaled creature had never directly told her, but he had such an unintentional fascination with mirrors that Kuroko always assumed it was because of that that she deemed him the name.

Sometimes she'd explore the corridors in her first years away, or whatever was left of them. Several halls she remembers coming to dead ends at were blocked by mirrors of all shapes and sizes, all reflecting back at her in her no longer lilac dress.

Whenever they would go out for a fly, anything shiny or reflecting the sun caught his eye, and he'd unknowingly land near the area to explore.

Even his scales were like mirrors, reflecting the fire they would curl up against, made mostly to keep her warm. She'd find them in the mornings he'd be gone, one or two scattered and peeking out between stone tiles, red as blood. She would hide them away, only taking them out on nights when he would be off doing whatever it was dragons did at night, letting it reflect the small fire she'd make herself, only falling asleep when the flames finally died down to smoking embers come morning, around the time he always returned.

She had told him once, one summer day, struggling to keep up with him as they headed out somewhere into the forest. He had seized in his step, turning a flaring snout towards her to look at her, before huffing fiery air through his nose and resuming in his giant strides. She smiled then, moving to keep with a pace that seemed much slower than before.

"Maybe you actually _are_ a female dragon. With your obsession with mirrors and all, I wouldn't be surprised." That earned her a whack on the head from the taper of his tail.

That wasn't an indication that he _didn't_ like it, at least.

\-----

Kuroko complained once, a few weeks after being with the dragon, about how her dress was practically in tatters. "My mother would be furious with me if she ever saw me like this," she had said, before covering her mouth after realizing that she'd said it aloud. She watched wide-eyed as the dragon turned his head away from the fire to look at her, head tilting ever-so-slightly down to look at her garments. She only relaxed when he looked away to practically rest his head on the flames. That made her laugh.

The next day, he led her to a different part of the castle, away from the still-standing halls and entrance to a higher room where he had to give her a boost up to reach. It was one of the more preserved rooms, barely scathed.

Upon realizing it was once a princess's room, judging from the walls and the closet full of dresses, obviously not her size, but at least something she could work with, Kuroko looked to the dragon that was already walking away.

\-----

Witnessing the stinging cold of the winter dulled by steaming breaths in her first fortnight, becoming used to living under the wing of a mythical—literally, mind you—and seeing the springtime bring bluebells and primrose abloom to litter the fields beyond the castle walls, it barely felt like 2 years had passed. The flowers stretched far to the forest, stopping shy of its borders and growing in clumps.

Running out to admire the strange bouquets of rainbows, she could hear Kagami following her. The large beast paid no mind to the inferior sprouts, lumbering around the area and keeping a watchful eye on her, making sure she never veered too far from the meadow.

The pasture reminded her of the ocean, like in the books she found lying around. It swayed like the waves that proved difficult to describe in words. The faded pictures didn't do these oceans any justice. Vast bodies of water stretching for hundreds, thousands of miles, deeper than any lake and stronger than any current, holding creature both real and imaginary, it sounded almost otherworldly.

There was a lot she learned from those books.

Many of them held stories that she thought were myths, mere fairytales told to children resting on their mother's laps, beside a fire or a flickering candle—or in her case, under a lonely willow tree. Except they were written like scrolls you'd find in libraries.

A vast number of them belonged to the previous inhabitants of this castle. The court hearings and guard schedules hardly piqued her interest, leaving her with the professor's textbooks and the history books.

Among the ones she could actually read, she'd come to find a few favorites. One of them was the history of the dragons. With practice, and help from the professor's lessons, she came to understand some of their origins, even if it were just bits and pieces. Known to have lived even farther back than the period before the Middle Ages, one scroll even says that dragons were capable of human speech and magic, and said to have taught humans how to talk.

Perhaps there was a reason it said 'were', though. Kagami never spoke. They were only able to understand each other more or less through eye contact and gestures. She was the only one that ever did any talking, regardless of if he could understand her or not.

But he looked as if he could understand. Kagami looked at her whenever she spoke, turned away when she wasn't, and growled whenever she said something rude about him.

Kuroko never got around to asking him. Perhaps it was because, sitting there in the ocean of grass, weaving the mysteriously growing flowers into a crown, a crown she was planning on placing on Kagami's horned head, that looking up into those thin pupils the color of molten lava, burning like the mountains of fire she had read about, there was no need to.

All the times Kagami kept her warm during the night, or always made sure she was always fed. All the times Kuroko would sneak away to see more of the castle, only to be caught and shooed away by a tail, away from crumbling pillars and rotting trees that reeked of mold.

Or the times when Kagami took her flying, very different from the first time she had been in the sky, leaving her kingdom. He always flew low, making sure none of his six wings ever clipped her as they soared at a speed that made the wind just lightly blow at her short hair.

Kagami put up no fight when she climbed up the curved spikes that lined his spine, sitting the small circle of flowers on the crown of his head.

A confused look crossed his features, masked seconds later by poorly concealed amusement. He dropped down on his belly, this time avoiding the delicate flowers as he lay his head down, warm gaze trailing her back as she ran for more.

Those unspoken gestures were enough for her.

\-----

Kuroko never could figure out the reason as to why Kagami had taken her away.

Would she necessarily call it 'being taken away' though? She's had plenty enough hours sticking close to the fire awake on nights Kagami was gone to come up with her own theories.

At first she suspected him of having a grudge of some sort against her father, the king. But if he did, Kagami wouldn't be mothering her or doing this much for her if she were a prisoner or a bounty. He certainly wouldn't be teaching her all these things about the forgotten world he lived in.

It could've been that he had done it to save her from the fire. Taking any further action in doing something like returning her would probably have resulted in his death. Good thing he hadn't gone through with that last part.

Whatever the reason, she was eternally grateful to him for always taking care of her, when he could have left her for dead. Huh, she should thank him when he comes back.

It seemed that the possibility of him merely desiring a companion, slipped her mind.

\-----

It was weird how she didn't miss the kingdom much.

Now at—how long has it been, 4, maybe 5 years?—an older age of 12, Kuroko couldn't imagine her life being filled with nothing but exploring and running bare foot and flying on a dragon's back as anything out of the ordinary. Rather, her life as a princess, stuck in lessons and having to do everything with the grace of a royal member of the family was tiring and boring.

She couldn't deny it, she did miss her family: Akashi, her grandmother from her mother's side, her father, partly; and her friends, or should she say her brother's friends, Aomine, Midorima, Kise, and Nijimura. She did miss the stable hand, Takao, that would always let her pet Yukimaru, Akashi's horse. She missed Mayuzumi, the son of the royal bookbinder with a sharp tongue, even at such a young age, but quite the bookworm she could relate to.

There were townspeople like Furihata, the apprentice of one of the town tinkers. She remembered how he once interrupted a Court meeting with trailing behind his teacher with the invention of the "hourglass" when visiting the room with her mother. And the son of a barber, Hyuuga, who always hung out with his friends, Riko and Kiyoshi by the main gates. There was Kise's friend, Kasamatsu, the only child of one of the town entertainers, who was quite the prodigal musician. And how could she forget Akashi's best friend that always had a knack for baking, Murasakibara.

Here, however, she didn't have to worry about war with other kingdoms, or having to choose who to marry—in most cases not out of love but rather out of status—or even deciding what to wear to impress her father. The only thing controlling her actions was a temperamental dragon. She had a freedom most people would die for.

Sure, Kagami's food he would "find" from the nearby towns had nothing on what the cooks of Teiko could whip up, and what Kuroko wouldn't give to have a proper bath instead of having to make do with the lake, and yet...

The beating of wings brought her to lift her head from its spot against the window of her room. A familiar dragon was shaking off snow that had burrowed itself in the kinks of his hide, leaving small mountains of snow at the gaping entrance of their home.

 _Home._ Kuroko's been here in this castle almost as long as she had been at her father's kingdom; it didn't feel much like a place to call home anymore, unlike what she would call this ruined castle she shared with a dragon.

Sliding down the makeshift rope to the ground floor, she took off into a run to meet Kagami, ducking to avoid a shower of melted slush.

Laughter echoed through the empty and open corridor, only reaching the ears of her and her kind-hearted guardian.

Companionship with a dragon was a strange but enchanting affair. Kuroko wouldn't trade it back for a life back in diplomacy and finesse again. Not if she could help it.

\-----

And enchanting affairs always came with its mysteries.

Kagami always made it a point to Kuroko to never go too far into the forest without him, with its trunks that loomed high and if you looked hard enough, dancing shadows that seemed to sway ominously, even in the light of the sun, deep in the forest.

Kagami acted especially irritable whenever she was tempted to pick the flowers growing under the shade of the trees, coming close enough to rouse the roots into sluggishly trying to catch her. A yank on her collar never failed to keep her from touching those inky black roses, and the slithering vines were always stopped by a clawed hand.

Anything she could get her hands on about the forest were mostly of magical rituals. Ways of creating amulets or revealing events of a person's future were some of the few she could read. Most of the others were written in some other language even Kagami didn't know, becoming so indecipherable to the point where the letters bled together or suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence.

She would close any book that started to get the least bit creepy and move on to the next one, especially after that one time she accidentally came across one about young women gazing into a mirror and upon seeing the face of a grim reaper, dying before they could get married. She avoided her reflection and the halls of mirrors a week after she read that.

The few that she did come across only had vague details. Spirits dwelling in the forest, summoning rain, possessing roots to ensnare travelers, stalking people with the sound of footsteps in the night, extinguishing lanterns, having control over trees. Monsters that haunted the forest, hiding in riverbanks with the luring cry of a newborn, eating those without the comfort of fire.

Nothing about the history. Anything she found only spoke about the forest on a small scale. The forest was massive. They were so far in its depths that no man would dare step foot in, knight-errant searching for an adventure or not. Who knew what lay within these woods.

But she would keep her word. Never go too far into the forest without Kagami by her side.

\-----

And of course, things never go as planned. There was one time Kuroko lost Kagami.

It hadn't been her fault, nor had it been Kagami's. It had been the forest's fault.

It wasn't news to Kuroko that Kagami wasn't the only dragon out there, nor was it highly likely that he was the last of his specific species. They've seen a number of them in the nine years she'd been there, in the sky and in the brush. Most she and Kagami have encountered were either slumbering or too snappy to go near. Those in the sky aways vanished into the clouds before they could come close.

They were out exploring nearby one of the rivers when it happened. It was such a clear day, and the water was so blue that the sunlight reflected off it and glistened against the leaves. She recalls being able to see it if she reached _really_ high on her toes.

Something shiny off in the distance caught Kagami's eye. He immediately ran towards it, leaving Kuroko behind to catch up. His wings looked ready to take action, extending on his back before curling in. There was no room for him to spread them fully to be able to fly, but he was fast enough without them.

It didn't help her situation at all. There was no way she could keep up with a 30 or 40-something foot tall dragon, even without the use of his wings. It only took a moment of her stopping to catch her breath for him to disappear. When she looked up, finally catching her breath, the only thing she could hear was the distant cracking of branches.

Kuroko wanted to find him. However, the sound of a 2 ton dragon lumbering around had long since faded into the thicket. Running up to the general area of where she remembered the shining object being, she came up with nothing. Had there really been something there, or was it the forest playing a trick on them?

Hearing the cry of... something, not sounding like anything wolf or dragon-like, she started. Not wanting to stick around long, she turned to try and retrace her footsteps back to the castle.

It had taken almost half an hour of wandering before she finally started to panic. Her legs were beginning to tire, and she couldn't stop running, for fear of encountering whatever it was that was ambling around behind her. She knew it wasn't a spirit, because they normally stayed in one place and never ventured far from their tree. They certainly didn't make noise either. This was a living, breathing, _hungry_ creature following her.

It was starting to get dark fast—time flying by fast since she was within an enchanted forest after all. The sun was too low to be peeking through the trees. The shadows sure looked much more menacing now compared to earlier, and she's had to slow down her pace to avoid running into any trees. Every snap of a twig had her on edge, even though half of the time it was the ones cracking under her feet.

She wished Kagami was with her. He knew his way around the forest. He could take care of himself. But could she?

The forest certainly didn't like her here. Usually it left the two of them at peace, or rather made sure to not harm her to avoid Kagami's wrath. The fairies that had once lived in the castle tree before it had fallen never failed to stop her for a smile and shyly ask for a lock of hair whenever she passed by their new home in a nearby tree. The mysteriously floating fireballs she saw always lent a hand to her whenever she accidentally strayed too far from the meadow, going out whenever she made it back into the sunlight.

But right now it felt as if it didn't welcome her. The balls of fire glowed red instead of a soft baby blue, and flared dangerously if she ever tried to approach them. Monsters hiding in the shadows have been on her tail ever since Kagami disappeared, kept away only be measly rocks and sticks. The forest never took kindly to strangers, but she wasn't a stranger, right?

A jutting root yanked Kuroko from her thoughts. She tumbled forward when it wrenched her leg out from under her. Pain flared in her ankle as she caught herself on her hands, barbed leaves prickling her skin. A nearby shrub rustled behind her, and a vine shot out, catching her by the leg. She gasped in surprise.

She tried to pull herself out of its grasp, but it wouldn't budge. The creeping plant slithered up instead, tightening in a vice grip, pulling a wince from her lips.

Her strains at the bonds were starting to increase in urgency as she heard the footfalls get closer. She could hear the wheezing breaths over the blood pumping in her ears, and there was no doubt that the creature with its enhanced senses caught the rapid increase of heart rate.

Fumbling on all fours, she tried to find something, _anything_ as purchase. Her hands closed over a small branch, and she rolled over, blindly stabbing the large vine. The sharp tip sunk in without resistance, and she heard a guttural scream before the vine released its hold on her.

Without hesitation, she was up on her feet and running again before the tree could get her again, ignoring the throbbing pain she felt with every step.

The tree must have caught whatever was chasing her, because a pig-like shriek followed not even seconds after she'd gotten away. She heard a bone-chilling crack before the crying stopped. She kept running.

She was slowly being able to see again, and it likely wasn't because of the throbbing fading from her head. Turning a corner, she spotted something bright in the distance. Sunlight.

Kuroko ran as fast as she could towards the light. It didn't take long for her to reach it, breaking through the line of trees and tumbling face first into knee-high grass. Shaking her hair out of any sod, she weakly lifted her head up.

She nearly cried in relief when she was able to see the setting sun. The gushing of the stream was a sound she was familiar with. This was, without a doubt, the same river that crossed under the old abandoned drawbridge on the rear of the castle.

Fresh air filled her lungs, cleansing her body of the thick, musky ether the forest had begun taking on. She got up on her elbows, starting to feel the exhaustion settle in her muscles.

Rising up on shaky feet, Kuroko walked a few short feet before plopping down at the edge. Throat parched, she cupped her hands in the water, shuddering at the way it chilled her fingers. Bringing them up to her lips, she sighed at the refreshing aftertaste the liquid left as it went down her throat.

When she reached down to get another handful, however, she was shocked to find it almost icy. Pulling her hands back, she watched in awe as the lazy river started freezing over on its own, cracking and solidifying from the center out.

Rising to her feet, Kuroko began backing away as the ice approached the banks.

It eventually slowed to a stop. With the sleet no longer forming, she could hear a slithering sound, like something was brushing along underneath the solid layer of the frozen river.

The first thing she saw was its eyes. They were of a pale blue, bordering on gray. Its scales were of a slicker appearance, and the gills lining its neck expanded before sealing closed, camouflaged by protruding scales. Wings peeled away from a dripping spine, color matching the ashy gray of its pupils. It must have been the one causing the sudden drop in temperature, the ice melting around the creature's form as it rose from the surface.

She knew who this creature was. He was one of the only dragons mentioned in the castle books, his story written in the form of a fable.

His name was Tatsuya. During ancient times, he was a sea serpent that would rise from the ocean and swallow moons whole. He was banished from his home by a being of higher power after trying to swallow the 7 moons that were believed to light up the sky, in a rage over his lover being killed by her clan people. The reasons of eclipses were believed to be caused by the serpent trying to find his way back home to the ocean.

He sure seemed a lot different than what the book described him as. No doubt some adapting and shifting had had to occur. Now he looked more like a dragon than a sea monster.

Seeing as he had risen from a river instead of an ocean, the fables held some truth. "So you really were banished," Kuroko said without thinking.

There was a sudden drop in temperature. Azure flared bright through the fissures of his belly, and a low growl resonated from his maw and through her bones. Her breath turned cloudy in front of her. The water dripping off his whiskers froze into icicles, and Kuroko winced when the droplets of water falling on her turned to chunks of ice. He must have not liked the way she had put it.

She took a step back when the serpent lifted a paw out of the water. Upon contact with the ground, frost spread to encase the grass in sleet, and Kuroko had to fall back to avoid it. Wintry breaths passed over her as he leaned in close to her face. Frost settled on her eyelashes at the cold reverberating off his skin. She shut her eyes, preparing herself for whatever was to come.

She heard the chafing of teeth as he opened his mouth, a loud hissing draw of breath heeding her ears before a roar and a strong wind blew her off her feet, breaking the spell.

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring up at the blazing form of Kagami. The lowering sun gleamed off his scales, making him glow like a beacon of light.

His teeth were bared in a snarl. She could feel heat radiating off his skin from where she sat. Anything frozen within a 10 meter radius melting on the spot, including the ice on her.

Kuroko couldn't help but laugh, almost hysterically. Gods, was he a sight for sore eyes.

From her angle, she was quick to notice the ring of flames burning on the crown of his head. It was a trait common among his species, during rare fluctuations of emotions, to release excess fire out of pores scattered along their body. That's what she'd assumed it to be anyways. She'd only witnessed it a few times, flames sporadically flickering whenever he got startled or frustrated.

His tail was sparking, yet to fully ignite. A blaze of fire trailed down his spine to the point where it completely engulfed the spikes. She's never seen him like this, so... bright.

Amber eyes met hers, doing a once-over to make sure she was unharmed. Seeing as she was more or less untouched from her near encounter with a serpent's icy breath, he turned back to the dragon he had flung. He had rammed Tatsuya hard enough to throw him out onto the river, but that did nothing to deter the serpent. In fact, it looked like it'd angered him.

The sky turned dark, and Kuroko shivered when the sun became engulfed in darkness, much like what would happen in an eclipse.

Kagami stepped onto the ice, claws scratching against the ice beginning to crack under his weight. Neither charged at each other. Instead, the two dragons circled each other.

A shrill hiss fell from the serpent's lips, and Tatsuya lifted his wings, exposing the brightly patterned underside. Steadfast, Kagami rose up on his haunches, extending his own. Large wings expanded, casting shadows on the much smaller dragon, making him appear more threatening. He snarled, stepping forward, forcing Tatsuya back.

Kagami roared, blowing fire at Tatsuya who used a wing to shield himself, shrinking away from the heat.

Strangely, it was then that Kagami's belly turned from its usual fiery red, to a blue that reminded her of Tatsuya's, and the next time he opened his mouth, the fire that belted out glowed cerulean as it licked at the serpent's skin, coming off simmering.

Kagami did it again, steam rising from his orifice, this time shooting out ice instead of fire. It froze upon contact against Tatsuya's wing, halting any movement.

Dragons had the natural ability to cast magic, meaning they weren't bound to just one element to control. To be stronger than another dragon meant being able to mimic their opponent's abilities and make it their own. Kagami had successfully copied Tatsuya's powers, which meant...

Kagami stood tall as he watched the serpent get up, melting away the ice on its wing and retreating to its place in the river, grudgingly slipping back under the ice. It was only after the sun returned to normal and the waves under the river surface cease rippling did Kagami turn his head to see Kuroko stumbling towards him.

She ran across the ice, uncaring of how she slipped and slid and how much it hurt to move before finally crashing into his leg. Hugging it tight, she stuttered out apologies, making promises of how next time she'd work hard to not lose him, and to look for him first instead of trying and failing to find her own way back, and—

Kuroko was only stopped when Kagami nudged her off. Stepping down, he leaned down to look at her. It was hard to see him through the film of water she tried hard to will away. The fire being emitted from his body was gone. Sniffling, she noticed that his eyes were still gray, and he was still glowing blue. Even his crown was blue now. Upon mentioning it he leaned back and blinked, turning them back to gold. His belly reverted back to its brilliant red, and the flames were snuffed out, the adrenaline in his veins no longer pumping so quickly.

The ice, with the source of its appearance now gone, was starting to melt under their feet. Kagami retracted his wings, letting them hover over her protectively as he gazed at her. His rear wings twitched, and he shifted restlessly. Tilting his head to one side, he looked confused as of what to do. Kuroko sighed at his agitation.

"Come on, let's go home."

Kagami let her climb onto his back, gently catching her whenever she slipped on her way up slippery spikes.

Kuroko hardly registered when Kagami left the ground. Darkness was beginning to settle, the sun now absent in the horizon, making her shiver. They were in the air, passing through clouds that made Kagami's scales glisten with the reflecting light of the moon, high enough that she didn't have the guts to look down. One of his three pairs of wings had abandoned its normal duty of keeping them in the air to protect her from any cold gusts of wind, the wind whistling off his wings putting her mind at ease. There was a familiar, yet distant feeling of déjà vu in that action. She couldn't recall what.

She didn't resist when Kagami made the fire extra bright that night, insisting she take the wool cloak he offered to her after fetching it from her room when she proved too weak to make it there and curling up closer than usual, letting the heat roll off his body in waves. She'd long since changed into a dryer set of clothes, the color starting to return to her cheeks. Kagami seemed much more relaxed and way less twitchy now that she was feeling better.

Both were exhausted from the day, and within minutes they were asleep.

When morning had come, too quickly for her liking, it was a surprise to find Kagami there beside her, mind still deep in the world of dreams. The dimming and brightening of his abdomen fell in sync with his even breathing, the sound similar to that of a crackling fire coming from his belly with each exhale, something she wasn't quite used to.

It was the first time he hadn't left to patrol the skies in a while. Kuroko learned only recently that he went out most nights to fly around the area until morning. It sounded exhausting when she first discovered him flying when she'd woken up in the middle of the night from a rare nightmare once. But he certainly wasn't doing it just for his sake. More like for...

Well, she wasn't complaining now. It was barely daybreak. It wasn't long before her eyes fell shut and she dozed off.

\-----

It was fun watching the deer and rabbits run around in the snow. It would take longer for the deers to hear you when it came to the soft crunching of snow beneath your feet, and the bunnies always disappeared under the frosty layers before you could catch them. But it was _especially_ fun to watch Kagami try and walk in it.

There was, of course, no room for him to fly in the forest, meaning he had to be on all fours with his paws in the, according to him, measly amount of snow. But it didn't matter if it was 5 inches or 5 feet; he hated it. That's why he preferred flying more than walking when it came winter.

Kuroko rolled a chunk of ice into a ball, keeping an eye on the annoyed dragon kicking away the offending flurry ahead of her. She'd lagged behind at a distance far enough that he wouldn't hear her bend down to get some, but close enough that it was able to make contact with the back of his head when she threw it.

The hard-packed snowball hit him square in the head, lodging itself in the kinks of his hide and staying there, to her surprise. The two were quiet for a few seconds. Kuroko watched as he slowly turned around to face her. Without a word (not that he talked anyway), his crown burst into flames, melting away any trace of the poor snowball into a small puff of steam.

Kuroko turned on her heel and ran.

\-----

She could hear him behind her, no doubt furious at her betrayal. She stifled a giggle, bundling up the cloak tighter in her arms so it wouldn't inconvenience her as she ran as fast as she could. It proved difficult when the snow was unfortunately up to her knees, but she managed.

Except because of the snow, she didn't see the wire trap.

Kuroko unknowingly tripped it as she was dragging herself through the snow. Her foot snagged the string, making her fall face-first into the powdery frost. She turned her head at the sound of something snapping, and her fight-or-flight response brought her back on her feet and rolling out of the way of a flying net.

She felt it almost snag her cloak as it flew up, covered in strings and leaves, right where she'd been a few seconds ago, thankfully holding fake straw and not her inside.

The net creaked and swung slowly in the air, her sudden heavy breathing drowning out the shocked retreat of a nearby deer. That trap was meant for an animal. But if there was a trap someone set up, that meant-

"Hey, what the hell!"

Kuroko was startled by the voice, but was too stunned to move. A figure stepped out of the brush, dusting himself off of any snow, looking angrily towards the direction the deer had run off to.

She heard him curse. "That was so close." The unknown person turned his head to her. "What the hell's your proble-!"

Navy blue eyes met hers, and the words seemed to die in his throat. She took a step back, wary of his pause. He looked familiar.

Seeing her move back, the tall male took a cautious step forward. Then he uttered something. "Tetsumi?"

Kuroko was immediately on the defensive, one hand slipping into the sewn patch on her cloak to find the cold blade of her knife, something she'd decided to carry on her ever since the incident with Tatsuya. It was always to good to have an actual functioning weapon, thanks to Kagami. "... How do you know my name?"

He raised his hands up, showing no threat. Kuroko did a once-over of the guy, the sight of his knightly attire ringing a bell in her mind. The sky-blue and powder white emblem in the shape of a crest on his chest catching her eye. He was a knight. The sword belted to his side drew lines in the snow as he walked forward.

She withdrew her hand, grasping the cool handle of the blade tightly. He immediately stopped in his tracks at the sight of the knife. Kuroko stood up straighter, holding the blade defensively in front of her. "I asked you a question. How do you know my name?" She asked again. 

She saw the hurt in his eyes, even from where he stood. "You don't recognize me?" The male spoke quietly. "It's me. Daiki."

"Daiki?" Where had she heard that name before? She wracked her brain for a face to match the name, and then it hit her. A memory of a kid with dark hair similar to the person in front of him flashed before her eyes, and she lowered her knife. "Aomine-kun?"

"Yes! That's me!" Aomine nodded quickly. The small ten year-old she remembers dragging her along to meet other kids and always tried to jump into the royal lake naked was now the full-grown knight standing before her. It had been so long ago, she could hardly remember.

Aomine opened his mouth to say something, but something red appeared in the corner of her eye, making them both turn their head.

She sucked in a breath when she saw Kagami had turned the same corner she had and turn his head in their direction. His eyes fell on her and the triggered trap, and then to Aomine. His attitude did a whole 180 at the sight of the sword, the snow he hated so much turning into puddles of water under his feet. He charged forward.

Kuroko ran forward, right into Kagami's path. Aomine yelled for her to stop, but she ignored it, focused on her dragon.

"Kagami-kun, stop!" Kuroko thrust her hands forward. Kagami, shocked at her sudden call, slowed down, stopping in front of her. Kuroko heard her old friend yell something out again, but she glared at him in warning before turning back to look up at Kagami, who was practically blowing steam out of his nose.

Kuroko walked up, placing her hands on the scales that had turned sharp and deadly in his rage, making sure they didn't pierce her fingers. She could feel his hearts beating thunderously under her fingertips, just as fast as her own. He wasn't the only one given a shock.

"Kagami-kun, it's okay." When he continued to glare at Aomine, she pulled hard on a scale, bringing his gaze down to hers. His eyes narrowed in annoyance at disrupting his attack, but she looked back into his eyes to reassure him, and the fire she found there died down a degree at the firm look in her eyes. "I'm okay." Kuroko repeated, softly so that only he could hear.

Kagami, if he could frown, looked warily at the other human here before exhaling fire out of his mouth in what probably would have been a sigh. The scales unfolded from their sharp points back to smooth curves. He took a few steps back, stooping his head down to her level. Smiling, she rubbed his head, drawing an amused rumble from him.

"W—What's going on, Tetsu?" Kuroko was drawn back from the brief moment of silence to Aomine who had spoken. Kagami turned his head too. Aomine looked lost, eyes wide as the darted between her and Kagami. "Why... that's a dragon... You aren't supposed to..."

His gaze turned skeptical, and it annoyed Kuroko for some reason. "I'm not supposed to _what_ , Aomine-kun?" she asked none too gently. He flinched at her harsh tone.

"Don't you read the stories?" That made her frown. Stories? Like those fairytales? What did they have to do with this? "Dragons burn villages and kill people. Why are you...?" Aomine started.

That ignited a fire in her. "Are you asking why I'm with with a dragon?" Years ago, she would have had a answer as to why she _wouldn't_ be with a dragon, but circumstances, warranted or not, had brought the two of them together and changed her thoughts about dragons, and magic, and the forest, and herself. The way Aomine spoke about it, it was like... it was like he acted as if he knew how dragons were.

"Well, I don't think I could give you a straight answer about why," She kept a hand on Kagami as support, looking up to meet her former companion's eyes, "but I can tell you one thing. Not all dragons are the same."

"What are you saying?" Aomine cut in. "They're just like those stories your—your mom used to tell you! That thing," He pointed at Kagami, who blew fire out of his nostrils in irritation, looking ready to bite off that hand jutting an accusing finger at him, "took you away from the Teiko! Everyone thought you were dead!... Including me." Aomine added under his breath.

"So what if he did?" Kuroko asked.

"Huh?"

"So what if he did take me away? Maybe it was a blessing that he did." Kuroko said, unsure if she was answering his question, or hers.

"Are you seriously calling being kidnapped by a dragon from your family a _blessing_? They kill everything in their path! You could have been killed!"

Aomine was beginning to look frustrated. Kagami stepped forward and growled low in his throat when Aomine placed a hand on his sword, but Kuroko stepped in. "But I wasn't. And you..."

"You talk as if dragons are lower than you. They're not all angry beasts that have no minds of their own and go around destroying villages and killing soldiers for no reason. They don't kill just for the heck of it." Her hands balled up into fists, her usual soft voice growing louder with every word. "They're creatures that eat and breath and protect what's theirs! They have their own territory, and they protect that territory from those that try and take it. They have knowledge and lives and hearts that beat just like ours." Kuroko held the front of her cloak in a clenched fist. "And..."

"They don't kidnap princesses and lock them up in towers."

Aomine backed up, shaking his head. Kuroko took the opportunity to pull his hand off the sword and into both of her own. "Please understand!" She pleaded. "He's not a threat. Would I have been alive if he was like what you think?"

That had him hesitating. "No, you wouldn't." He admitted.

She was getting through to him. "Then you have to believe me." Kuroko held onto his hand firmly, looking up to meet his eyes.

Aomine scratched his head, frowning. "I can't just suddenly believe that this dragon did nothing wrong."

Kuroko shook her head. "You don't have to. Just believe that they don't always do wrong."

The sound of footsteps had her looking over Aomine's shoulder. It had slipped her mind that there was the probability that he wasn't alone. "Yo, Aomine, caught anything yet?" A guy clad in attire similar to Aomine emerge from around the thicket, muffling a yawn with his hand. "I thought I heard it go.. off..." He trailed off after rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looking up at them. "What the f—"

Aomine pushed Kuroko towards Kagami. "You guys have to go. Now!"

Kuroko stumbled, looking back to see the guy that had come to check run back into the snowy brush, no doubt to warn the rest of their pack. Of course there would be more people. Nobody dared go this far into the forest without a good hundred men behind them. Aomine yelled for the guy to come back, looking ready to draw sword and chase after that guy, but when he saw Kuroko, he hesitated, dropping his hand. "I'm sorry Tetsu. I.. I can't."

He was a knight. There were rules he had to follow and people he had to take orders from. To hide something or cross swords with a fellow knight would be an act of treason, and he would be hung if he did so. He had no choice.

She wasn't even sure if he believed what she said about Kagami. She'd have time to dwell on it later.

Kuroko turned her back to him, running away from him and towards Kagami, who already had his neck lowered so she could climb on. Years of practice made the way up as easy as tying her own hair. She slipped into the old saddle Kagami had set up a few months ago to make rides much more comfortable for her and easier to communicate where to go. It would come to good use, especially in their current crisis.

Sitting up in her seat, she looked down at Aomine, who was staring up at her in awe, as if he hasn't seen anyone ride a dragon before. Well, he hasn't. "You should go, Aomine-kun." He had to hurry back to his camp before anyone got suspicious, especially that guy that had seen them together.

Aomine nodded, not meeting her eyes. _You should too_ was left unsaid when he followed her command, disappearing into the brush.

Kuroko placed a hand on Kagami's neck. "Come on."

She had to close her eyes against the wind when Kagami took off with a mighty thrust of his wings, and before long they were high in the clouds. Kuroko pulled the makeshift reins she'd made for Kagami, telling him to circle around so they could survey the area of the camp.

Laying low in case someone should see them in the gaps of the clouds, Kuroko saw about half a dozen campfires scattered around the area beyond where she had come across the trap. She watched in horror as more began to form, lighting up the lowest level of the forest like a giant flame.

Kuroko had to hold onto the reins tightly as Kagami dodged the arrows that started to fly at them. Apparently white on red wasn't a good cover. Kagami swiped them out of the air, any stray ones coming too close to her were blocked by his rear wings. The sharp tips couldn't put even a scratch on his hide. Kagami broke through the clouds, nose-diving to throw off the archer's aim. Flying lower meant they had the cover of the trees blocking the archers.

Kagami growled when they began shooting flaming arrows. It didn't hurt him, but it certainly was more troublesome. Kuroko watched as the arrows that didn't intercept them fall deeper into the forest, no doubt setting something else on fire.

"Kagami-kun!" He moved a wing to cover his face so he could look at her. Kuroko pointed towards the flames. "You have to take out those fires. They're gonna cause something worse than you to go after them if they keep this up."

A few seconds passes before he nodded, his obvious reluctancy in that small action making her smile. Kagami flew lower, to the point where Kuroko could feel her ankles brush the tops of the trees.

"Just don't harm the people!" Kuroko had to make sure to mention as Kagami gained more speed, her voice hopefully not getting lost in the wind. Luckily he had heard, as he summoned ice, wiping the fires out in a whirl of icy crystals as they zoomed by, too fast for any arrows to hit.

As Kagami rose higher into the air to put more distance between them again, Kuroko saw something engulfed in fire hurtling towards them. Her breath caught, and she pulled on the reins a second too late to warn Kagami. It was like it happened in slow motion. The ball of fire hit Kagami square in the chest. The force of the hit wrenched the leather out of her hands, throwing her off Kagami's back and blowing them both out of the air.

She was dazed for a few seconds, the hair blowing in her face as she made out the huge blur of blue that was the sky, enough time for her to blink and see the blue turn to red before they hit the trees below.

Kuroko held onto Kagami as he protected her from the fall with his own body, feeling his body crash through the branches. Even with a body the size of Kagami's as cushion, she still felt the drop jar her bones, teeth crashing hard against each other as they met the ground floor with tremendous impact.

Kuroko breathed hard, her own breath blowing back into her face, darkness taking away her vision as she felt Kagami tense and then relax. Kagami's wings retracted, having cradled her during the descent. She tried to stand up, only to fall against Kagami's side at the sudden whiplash. Holding her head, she looked around, expecting to have fallen right in the middle of their base. While they hadn't, the sounds of voice were getting closer. She looked at Kagami who was shakily getting to his feet.

One of his middle and rear wings were bent at an odd angle, and the blue illuminating his chest was faint. The crown on his head was glowing weakly. He wasn't fit to fight those men.

Swallowing the fear she could feel trying to crawl its way up her throat, Kuroko shoved at Kagami.

He looked down at her, huffing in confusion. Kuroko shook her head, still trying to push him away. "You have to go. If they find you, they'll kill you."

The fire on his crown burst into flames with renewed vigor. Kagami moved to throw her off. He didn't want to _retreat_ Nobody ever liked being the coward and retreating. But that wasn't what she was trying to tell him.

"I didn't know that they, they _despised_ dragons as much as they do." Kagami stopped to listen. "You're injured, and there's still enough distance between us for you to escape." Kuroko said through clenched teeth. She didn't want him in this state against who knows how many men. She didn't want to think about what would happen if they tried to capture and kill him. She just wanted to get him to turn around and _leave_. Leave her...

Kuroko stopped pushing. She was trying to making the one creature she'd known for most of her life more than anyone else abandon her. She gripped his scales tight.

"Leave me..."

Even if he hadn't heard her, she said it again, louder this time, and more firmly than she thought it would have sounded. "You have to leave me! You can still fly away, but you wouldn't be able to carry me with your wings in that condition." He only had four wings ready for flight now. No way was he in any condition to fly at all, but maybe without her, it'd make it a little easier for him.

He didn't like that plan one bit. He roared, the blue turned to red in response to his rage, and the fire he blew out in retaliation was scalding. His scales burned under her fingertips, but it didn't hurt. She'd lived long enough with a walking candle like him to get used to a little heat. In fact, the heat calmed her. It had long since become a thing of comfort.

The tears she was trying so hard to hold in were falling now. She would miss it.

"Please, Kagami-kun." Yet she still tried. "I don't want anything to happen to you." Even though the pain he would feel leaving would hurt her just as much. "They won't do anything to me, I'm... a princess after all." She somehow found the strength to smile up at him, still able to even though she was making the most painful choice she could possibly end up with.

But it all seemed almost bearable compared to the thought of leaving Kagami with her to die by the hands of her kingdom.

"I promise that I'll be okay." Her voice shook, betraying the meaning of the 'okay' in her words. "Go. For me."

Kagami was silent. The fire had stopped licking at her skin, now boiling just under the surface. Kuroko couldn't look at him, couldn't look at those eyes that could see and know everything she felt.

Her hold on him fell as he stepped back. The heat faded like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on her, leaving her shivering and sinking to her knees, unable to keep herself upright anymore.

She waited for him to walk away, but first she felt warm air blow her bangs into her face and something heavy settle onto her head. His glowing tail came into view, and she realized why the sight seemed so familiar. It was what he'd done in his first encounter with her. And the cold wind and arrows that were being shot at them was just like before. That made her cry harder, the sobs wracking her body even after he pulled away, leaving her empty again.

Kuroko finally lifted her head when he took off, blowing snow into her face. The cold was a stark contrast to the heat she could still feel clinging to her hair. It reminded her of earlier this morning. She'd woken up to him dumping snow on her. He had apologized by letting her use him like a warm blanket, and she was toasty by the time breakfast rolled around. She was able to get him back earlier too, before...

The men were almost there. She hardly paid any attention to the yelling and the glow of the flames approaching. Kagami had long since become a speck in the sky. Who was she kidding. She could have gone with him. They could have still been together.

But she didn't want the possibility of being found a second time, and something worse happening. The tears on her cheeks didn't feel so bitter anymore as they trailed down her cheeks.

She hugged herself, ignoring the water seeping into her cloak. At least Kagami will be okay.

\-----

But she wasn't.

\-----

They said she should "be glad she's back home."

 _Home_ held a different meaning in the hearts of those barons and counts than it did to her. Home to them meant a safe kingdom ruled by a wealthy king, sleeping in royal quarters atop mattresses dressed with silk linings. Home to them, meant having the daily privilege of drinking from golden goblets decorated with the finest gems, eating the finest cuisines from the finest cooks, and ordering around only the most compliant of servants.

Home to her was a castle of ruins with fire and smoke and red as her company.

\-----

Trying to get back to her old life after 10 years away proved difficult for both her and her professors. She always contradicted what they tried to teach her, like the history about the forest and the so-called "myths" being real. That earned her more than a few prudent looks.

It was the same in the halls. She could feel the eyes of every count and duchess she passed, always feeling the penetrating stare when they rose up from their bows before her. Whenever she didn't lock herself in the room or the library, she was forced by her handmaid to dress properly. It was a new dress every time, each one feeling tighter and more constricting than the one before, making her skin itch and want to tear it off, thread by thread.

She never cried. Not once ever since Aomine had found her in the snow, with no dragon by her side. He was one of the only people in the castle he could go to, seeing as he knew the most of her story. Him, and her brother.

Akashi had gotten her to spill everything the night she came back. He'd become more gentle in comparison to the brash young child who knew everything she remembers having to deal with. Nothing like her... father, who Akashi strived to be anyone but. He would make a fine king one day. He already had the looks and the respect.

Unlike her. She knew how the royal advisors, with the exception of Midorima, looked at her. She was just some runaway girl who didn't fit the role of a princess, not anymore.

It especially showed in the court. The meetings were stifling and torture to sit through, and being a person of royalty, she was required to attend a good number of them to show that she had an interest in the wellbeing of the kingdom. She would care much more if they didn't force her out of bed at sunrise and sit for hours on end listening to the other kingdom's issues with Teiko. It seemed that there was more tension between the older rulers and her father than ever before. Something about their kingdom having too much power despite how "young" and "inexperienced" they were.

\-----

Kuroko was tired of being stuck in the castle. She ached to go outdoors and feel the sun on her skin and grass under her feet. Midorima couldn't let her take even a glimpse at the refurbished gardens, as per request from her father.

Father. The word felt weird on her tongue, like it was some word she had never seen before. The only time she had been able to see him was on the day of her return. One look at her had him greeting her back and waving her off just as quickly as she had arrived so he could attend to the town banker waiting behind her. Any time he didn't attend court meetings, her and her brother Akashi were forced to attend. She was more stubborn in the matter than her brother, who was actually interested in such debate.

She never called him father. It was always "Your Majesty" or "His Majesty the King" or "The King". One incident she recalls was a knight that had been assigned to the court who had a bit of a loose mouth, calling him "Your Highness" instead of the usual title. He didn't know that to address the King by such a title was considered a insult. She saw another guard take his place the next day.

The only people that didn't make her feel like an alien in her own skin were the members of higher royalty consisting of Akashi, his friends, and her grandmother, and the townspeople. A majority of them were people she had known when she was younger. Some have changed, and some haven't.

\------

"I heard that the Princess lived in the forbidden forest and ate nothing but animals and berries."

"Oh yeah? Well, I heard that she was actually taken away by another kingdom and is a spy for them now. You should be careful around her."

Kuroko listened to a pair of duchesses whisper amongst themselves as she and Akashi walked by on their way to breakfast.

She recognized them. They were both wives to the two Counts that were representatives of the Hajime and Minori family. Neither had a place in the court, nor in royalty. The only worth they had were their names. She bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything back, turning her eyes away. After all, it's all she's been hearing for the past month. It didn't faze her.

It was a different story for her brother.

Akashi held a hand up when they crossed paths, stopping the two ladies in their step. The two scrambled to bow, eyes growing large at the opportunity to be stopped and graced by the presence and eyes of the only prince and heir to the throne.

Being an heir and without a wife at the age of 21—long since past the minimum age for marriage—meant he was still up for grabs. Women everywhere fell at his feet for the chance to meet him. Including these two.

"Good morning, Prince Akashi!" The two women chimed in unison, all smiles and grace now. Kuroko resisted the urge to make a face.

"Good morning to you too." Akashi gave a small bow. Kuroko stood where she was, knowing the duchesses didn't care if she did or not. Their eyes were on her brother.

"Now," Akashi began, "I couldn't help but overhear you two saying something about Tetsumi." Both women froze, smiles not so blinding anymore. Akashi grinned sweetly. "Care to tell?"

"I—uh, well..." His smile never wavered once as they stumbled to come up with an explanation or excuse.

Akashi finally stopped them when they proved unable to say anything. "Oh, my apologies. If you don't wish to tell, I will respect your wishes. However..."

He leaned forward, lifting one hand up to whisper, smiling wide, "I heard that a group of counts were seen going to the brothel at the edge of town last night. Turns out it's a ritual thing."

You could have heard a pin drop before a scream of outrage hit their ears. It was so high pitched it could've shattered any nearby windows. Akashi looked smug as the two women blew past him, huffing and puffing; at him or at the possible actions of their husbands, Kuroko wasn't sure.

Their rage disappeared around the corner and soon the two were left alone again. Akashi clicked his tongue, grumbling about the "horrendous display of manner." Turning back to her, Akashi held an arm, like a doorman at his post. "Shall we?"

His action was rewarded by a slight smile and a customary jab to the side before they continued on their way like nothing had happened. That was the third time Akashi had done that today.

\-----

"Grandmother?"

Tired cobalt eyes found hers, and a smile so similar to her mother's found its way to her grandmother's face. "Tetsumi, is that you?" She called from her place in her bed. A weak twinkle of mirth followed, drawing Kuroko deeper into the room. Her grandmother's maids had stepped out when she knocked and entered a few minutes ago, leaving just the two of them together.

Soft hands cupped her face, gently tilting her head this way and that. The smile on her face grew more ample. "My, you've grown. You look just like your mother when she was your age." Another hand found itself running smoothing her hair down. It now reached below her waist. She never let the maids cut it.

Kuroko's hand was shaky against her grandmother's as she held onto it like a lifeline. "Grandmother, do you believe me?"

She needed reassurance. This wasn't a question she could just ask anybody. She needed to hear it from someone who had the wisdom, like her mother.

The skin around her eyes scrunched up, laugh lines prominent in her gaze. "I had a feeling that what my son-in-law said wasn't all that true." She patted Kuroko's cheek gently. "You may have changed, but I know you wouldn't lie about something like that."

Her grandmother laughed in surprise when Kuroko tackled her in a hug.

\-----

The only thing she had left of her time with Kagami was her cloak. It always hung on the headboard of her bed, always untouched whenever Riko came in to tidy up the place. She was the only maid allowed in, and the only maid that knew the basics of what really went down during her 'kidnapping'.

Kuroko fingered the stitches that were starting to come loose on the patches she'd sewn on to make pockets for herself.

She still had the knife too.

Kuroko made it a habit of keeping it in her bedside drawer, checking every night to make sure it was there, like it would make her feel a little safer at night. It did, but it didn't.

If she shut her eyes and concentrated hard enough, she could still feel the warmth against her back and patterned breathing that always lulled her to sleep. Except it was a phantom feeling now, and she hardly got any sleep these nights.

\-----

If she sat just a little to the right of her window, she could perfectly see the sun make its lonely descent behind the trees. Kuroko would spend hours sitting in her room if there ever came the opportunity. Very few people ever came to disturb her, not that they wanted to anyways.

Kuroko stared unblinking at the ball of fire releasing its last beams of light before blending into the greenery, the strength of its light still stretching over the sky even though it was nearly gone from sight—sending an ache to her heart that'd become much too familiar around this time of day, of someone who also glowed brightly like the sun, perhaps even stronger—

"Princess?"

Kuroko tore her eyes away from the mesmerizing sight to spot Riko hesitating at the door.

The maid smiled guiltily, sheets tucked under one arm. Kuroko frowned inwardly at the title. After spending all these years under the orders of someone that wasn't her, and only to return to Kuroko's side with no questions asked, Riko was more than just a maid. She was a friend.

Riko held up the fresh linens. "My apologies for intruding, but you requested new sheets?"

She looked reluctant to call Kuroko to rise, but the spell had already been broken. Nodding, Kuroko slipped off the windowsill, landing barefoot on the cold wood. Nobody objected to her walking around without shoes, though the looks had multiplied when she'd come down for supper without them one day.

Kuroko accepted the pile. "Thank you, Riko-chan. I can put them on. I'll stop by before dinner to drop off the soiled ones to you, if that's okay."

"Are you sure that there is nothing else you need, Princess? You've been requesting less and less duties of me, the other servants are getting jealous of me wandering around doing nothing." Kuroko saw her smile, and couldn't help a smaller one from pulling at her own lips at the image that conceived itself in her mind.

"Well, I do hope those looks stop soon. They won't be given the same if they keep that up." Kuroko ushered Riko out before she did something rash like tuck her into bed if it meant doing her at least one favor today. "And there's no need for 'Princess'. Just Tetsumi is fine. You've known me long enough to call me by my name."

Riko's smile softened. She was Kuroko's mother's only maid before her death, after all.

"As you wish, Tetsumi."

\-----

"Look, it's Princess Tetsumi!"

She looked up at the call of her name, the status of being called princess was something she wasn't quite use to yet.

Kuroko had been wandering the town one afternoon, which was rare for her. It was Akashi requesting she have more freedom that the king released her from her unofficial house arrest to have free reign as far as the city walls that she was able to do so. A small group of kids ran up to her, clothes dusty and wrinkled from whatever game it was that they'd been playing before they spotted her. She recognized none of their faces, but they definitely knew her. One of the girls tugged at her dress shyly.

The children stepped back so she could lean down to hear what the little girl wanted to say. Smalls hands formed a cup around her ear so she could whisper to Kuroko, "Was it true that you met a dragon?"

Kuroko was surprised at the question, pulling back to see the kids looking up at her expectantly, eyes bright. She glanced around, and after seeing that no parents or adults were paying attention to them, did she whisper back in the girl's ear, "Would you like to hear about it?"

The girl nodded vigorously, turning back to her friends to tell them. They erupted into excited whispers and smiles before grabbing at her hands so she could tell them in a more private place.

Kuroko let herself be dragged along.

\-----

With more time to explore, Kuroko found a quite a few new stores in her spare time. Nobody really noticed her when she passed by the new establishments that had found home in the small-scale town in her time away.

There was one shop that she found beside Hyuuga's barber shop. It belonged to some mapmakers that had settled down here a while ago. Apparently Nijimura knew them, since he always stopped by to grab a map for his job.

Their names were Himuro and Izuki. Himuro once had shops in a few of the other kingdoms, meaning he knew his way around ones like Touou and Meikou, the latter being the place of his birth. As for Izuki, he used to be in the same profession as Nijimura, but a job that left him blind in one eye ran him out of business. Nobody really knew he was half-blind, seeing as he still had a remarkable eye for direction, no pun intended. The few that knew were some of the castle residents, her, and some shop owner that worked next door.

Rumors were that the guy that owned the store beside them had a thing for Izuki. It was only a rumor though, she didn't have any right to pry. Although she did see them go out together for a drink every once in a while.

And, as unsurprising as it was, Mayuzumi had become a bookbinder just like his father. Him and his father's place was closer to the castle, since they frequented the royal library whenever the librarian needed some old parchment bound or restored again. They spoke briefly after he'd spotted her looking at him through the window, which was a surprise, and she found out from him that Murasakibara was the owner of the town bakery, even though he was also had being a knight _and_ a royal carriage driver on his plate.

Everybody she met in town were all ecstatic to have her back, which lifted her mood slightly. Some things were still the same. Hyuuga still had a crush on her friend and part-time town healer, Riko, even after 10 years, and a kid named Ogiwara had become Takao's new apprentice/partner-in-crime in the king's stables. Miyaji succeeded his father as the shop market owner, and had the temper to go with it. Kasamatsu became the miracle musician of the town like everybody had suspected him to become, and one of the town advisors turned out to be Momoi, Aomine's childhood friend.

There were little to no words spoken about her time away, and she was grateful for it. Nobody mentioned what her father thought or what lie he had presumably spread about what really happened, but she had a feeling they were just waiting until she was comfortable enough to talk about it.

She was thinking of heading back to the castle since it was getting dark, since it was almost time for dinner, but there was one person she still had to visit.

\-----

The jingle of the bell signaled the opening of the store door. The lone brunet sitting behind the counter seemed so invested in his work that he didn't hear the person approach him until his name was called.

"Furihata-kun?"

Leaning over a work desk covered in nails and screws and some other scraps of metal that were probably unidentifiable to anyone except him, Furihata hummed, not looking away from his work. "That's me. What do you need?" He reached behind him without looking to another table of close proximity, probably trying to reach for the single small hammer that lay out of his reach.

Stretching over the counter, Kuroko plucked it off the table and placed it into Furihata's searching hands. He mumbled a quiet "Thanks" before putting in the last few nails of the contraption he was working on.

Kuroko and Furihata had become friends after meeting in town once when her mother needed to speak of business with his master one day. The two had gotten along exceptionally well, even though neither seemed to talk much.

She'd heard from Kiyoshi, one of the knights that devoted his time to patrolling the city, that the the old inventor Furihata apprenticed for had passed away a few years back. Since then, Furihata, at 15 years old, had to manage the shop by himself, having to balance his life with the town's needs.

Once he was done, he set the hammer off to the side, throwing off his goggles and wiping off the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. Wiping his oily hands off with a nearby towel, he sat back to admire his work, whatever it was. "So, someone need a fixed eyeglass or clock? I've been quite busy these days, so do make it quick."

Kuroko took a look around at the dainty little shop, seeing rows of clocks and other devices lining the store walls, and the weapons being kept on his side of the counter laying more out of sight. She wouldn't discredit the young inventor in assuming that he didn't participate in the recently discovered brewery that made potions or the armory that had opened a few months back, judging from the crates of bottles and chain metal. And was that an anvil she could see peeking out from the back room?

"Would you be able to make time for an old friend?" Kuroko asked politely.

"Old friend?" Furihata finally turned away from the table to see Kuroko smiling. His mouth fell open in shock. "P—Princess?"

Now being able to take a good look at his face, she could still remember the scared, clumsy little kid and crybaby he used to be; someone that always trailed after the kind tinkerer who'd taken him under his wing, in the halls and in the streets, and always got bullied for it. But he no longer looked like the kid who lost his parents in the war, nor the boy that nobody wanted to have to worry about feeding when it came hard times after.

She smiled weakly. "It's been quite a while, Furihata-kun."

"A—A while!?" Furihata spluttered, almost falling back in his chair in his rush to stand up. The chair did, however, knock against the table to his rear, making the round bottles filled with glowing liquids teeter dangerously on the edge. He hurried to catch them and place them safely in their box before running around to the front.

In his haste, the tassels on his apron caught a few axes on display on the side wall, resulting in them falling with a loud clatter, but he didn't pay them any mind. Furihata finally skidded to a stop in front of her, throwing his arms around her and laughing.

The hug almost threw her off-balance, but she was able to catch herself and wrap her arms around his shaking shoulders as his words of disbelief and happiness began to tremble and trail off into hiccups. Kuroko rubbed his back as he proceeded to sob against her shoulder.

There were some things that didn't seem to have changed.

\-----

There were rumors of Teiko possibly going to war with Meiko.

Kuroko had heard from Ogiwara one morning when she'd come by to take Yukimaru out for some fresh air. He had grown from being such a small colt to this beautiful and graceful animal. Tugging at the horse's reins, she passed by the two stable hands conversing.

Ogiwara was talking quietly with Takao as they were changing the hay in Yukimaru's stable, shoveling out any waste and replacing it with fresh straw and food. Ogiwara was a former citizen of Meiko before he came here to Teiko after all.

Apparently it was Meikou that was trying to figure out some way of forming a peace treaty with them. Both kingdoms haven't gone to war with each other since her father's grandfather had been on the throne. Kuroko's hands tightened around the reins.

She wondered if Ogiwara missed his old home. What was her father doing trying to pick a fight with their old kingdom?

\-----

Kuroko was dozing off in her seat when one of Meiko's messengers burst into the hall.

The king was right in the middle of deciding what action they should take lest their sister kingdom was unable to come with a decision, when a messenger stumbled to the front of the room. Three guards donning the same dark colors as the first guy, not belonging to Teiko, followed behind to stand at the massive entrance.

He almost tripped on the exquisitely patterned carpet that always seemed to remind her of Tatsuya before kneeling before the king. Conversations arose between the men in the royal court, silenced by a glare from his Majesty. He motioned for the message holder to stand, to which he shakily did. From Kuroko's position on the right side of her father, she could see him tremble under his piercing gaze. Poor guy.

"Are you a messenger of Meiko?" He asked, voice carrying through the large hall.

"Y-Yes I am!" The male, who could be mistaken as a young lad still, squeaked out. "I-I have m-message from King Kōzō! His Majesty the K-King has sent me inform you that Meiko has come to present you with our peace treaty!"

"Has he now?" Akashi said under his breath. Her brother was seated on her Father's left, his words earning a reprimanding look from his father that he ignored.

"What is this peace treaty your King has offered to us?" The King of Teiko asked once he trained his eyes back on the scared messenger.

"S-Service, from the Royal Circle's newest Knight!" That seemed to catch Kuroko's attention. Each kingdom held a Royal Circle of knights, ones that excelled higher above all the others. It was relatively uncommon for a king to offer a loyal knight for political and early purposes, but for the King of Meiko to offer them someone new?

"Why would he send a knight that is inexperienced?" She heard him sigh, but then wave it off. "No matter. Bring him in!" She saw him stand, to which everyone also rose. She and her brother followed him down the small flight of stairs to the main floor to meet their peace treaty.

Two of the Meiko guards pulled the door handles. The hinges on the grand doors of the hall creaked open. A single pair of heavy footsteps entered through the doorway. Bark brown silk stretched over broad shoulders, similar to what the other Meiko knights had on. Metal clinked against metal, the hollow sound of a sword slapping against leather and leather hitting padded carpet the only sound in the silent room.

He stopped a mere two strides away, kneeling down before the King. Kuroko could tell that the knight could easily tower over His Majesty from her place further behind him. Hair the color of blood, even darker than her brother's and the King's, obstructed her view of his face.

"Your name?" The King asked.

Kise, the King's translator, appeared by his side in an instant, and Kuroko strained to hear him whisper that "According to the messenger, he doesn't speak our language." Nodding, he asked again, and Kise delivered the question out in some other dialect. The knight answered.

"Kagami Taiga, you say?" His Majesty repeated when the translation was relayed back to him. Kuroko blinked in surprise at the name. "You have been given to Teiko as a peace treaty. What service do you offer to us that will benefit my people? Who is it that you will swear allegiance to?"

Their current king had no room for half-boiled loyalty. So long as a knight had some form of loyalty to their kingdom did they last long enough. Especially someone worthy of a place in their Royal Circle.

"Your Majesty, I offer allegiance and service to the Princess of Teiko." Kuroko heard a few people gasp, including Kise, when the knight spoke, without the aid of the interpreter in the room, for everyone to hear.

The redhead lifted his head, turning his eyes to her. Her breath hitched in her throat.

Oh, the irony of the situation. See, in fairy tales, the dragon is meant to be slain, and the princess, along with her knight, are meant to have their happily ever after. But meeting those golden eyes that burned like fire, as strongly and familiarly as her own, it seemed the story didn't quite go as planned.

She heard laughing, realizing now that it was coming from her own mouth. Her father looked at 'her knight' in incredulity, and then to her. All eyes fell on her, but their scrutiny paled in comparison to those eyes she had missed so much, that haunted her dreams and kept her up at night and wishing she was back beside that grand fire and cradled against flaming scales that matched that knight's hair. This was the first time she's laughed since returning to Teiko.

A secretive smile bloomed on Kagami's face, hidden from his place on the ground still propped up on one knee, and she started crying.

Good. She didn't want the cliché happily ever after anyways.


End file.
